PARKERSBURG –The Wood County Commission is seeking a state grant to help with trail development at Mountwood Park.

The commission signed a letter to Gov. Jim Justice in support of an application by Mountwood Park for a 2022 Abandoned Mine Lands Economic Revitalization grant for the project designated Mountwood Park Trail Center and Campground Development.

“We are constantly mindful of supporting and promoting the many features and tourist attractions in our county,” the letter said. “Mountwood Park has by far our most diverse offering for outdoor activities. Whether it is local residents using the park, or the many visitors to out county and state, we have seen an increase in the usage of the park. We are excited to see the upgrade of the mountain biking trail system currently underway.”

The commission committed $200,000 to renovate the former horse riding camping area into a trail-side campground for mountain bikers. The camping area would serve as a trailhead for new rails of 5 to 7 miles being built through the project.

The commission estimates the project, upon being awarded, would be completed in six to eight months, the letter stated.

Commission President Blair Couch, who serves on the Mountwood board, said there is an old coal mine under the park, one that is the farthest west in West Virginia.

Park officials believe the mine predated 1877. Coal from the mine probably was sold in Volcano and Petroleum, he said.

Couch said the park wants to also use money from the grant to install metal fencing at the mine’s entrance so animals, like bats, can still get in and out. They want to set up a way for people to look in and have signage talking about what happened there in the past.

The campground is above where the mine is located.

“We have to secure that whole thing,” Couch said of the mine.

Park officials aren’t saying exactly where the entrance is because they want to try to keep people out of it until they can secure it.

“It is not safe,” Couch said.

The park will apply for $3.8 million in grant funds.

Couch said the park was hit hard by the storms earlier this week.

“There are hundreds of trees down, big trees,” he said. “The number of trees they had to cut out of the road was phenomenal.”

Near the White Oak Lodge, a shear went through a hillside of trees that knocked many down, Couch said.

Commissioners might go out there early next week to look at the damage.

Couch said the planned dredging of the lake will begin July 5.

The commission also shared stories of former Commissioner Holmes R. “Butch” Shaver, who passed away earlier this week.

No commission meeting will be Monday, June 20, in observance of West Virginia Day. However, there will be a dedication for the David Couch Memorial Picnic Shelter at 10 a.m. Monday at Fort Boreman Park. Carlin’s Battery D, a Wood County Civil War re-enactors group, will shoot its cannon in observance of West Virginia Day

Couch, who owned and operated the local Hertz Car Rental business in Parkersburg for many years and was a Wood County Commissioner, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in December 1999 and passed away in December 2001. He is the father of Commissioner Blair Couch.

The picnic shelter, which was built over two years ago, was paid through grants and other money collected. A formal dedication has been planned for almost two years, but the COVID-19 pandemic kept delaying it.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com